I am so sorry for the delay everyone! Personal life got really busy without my permission.

Pairings: I'd like to remind everyone that despite the voting, romance is still NOT going to be a major part of this fic. I'm too lazy to write out the numbers this time but Gen/No Pairing is in the lead for Harry with Luna very close behind, and FrostIron is still the overwhelming lead for Loki.

Obligatory Plug: If you enjoyed the drama of the first chapter of this fic and/or want to see your favorite pairings and rarepairs come true in my writing, go check out my story Harry Potter and the Big Reveal. Next chapter is in the works.

Extras: Thank you to Terra King for being a fountain of great ideas (happy belated birthday)!

I've gone back to previous chapters and edited an error I made in terminology regarding Loki/Lily's form switching. It's a full shapeshift, not an illusion as I've mistakenly referred to it as. If anyone notices other mistakes such as this, please let me know! And thank you Lydia-Hood for bringing this one to my attention.

Also, I had to majorly fudge some parts of Harry's class schedule because it doesn't make any sense in GoF so if anything there seems off, you know why.

When Harry entered the Great Hall, a wave of silence rolled over the room as the students took notice. The noise level dipped considerably with surprise, then redoubled in volume with excited chatter. He slunk quickly over to the Gryffindor table, nearly sighing with relief when he spotted Hermione, Ginny, and the Weasley twins huddled at one end with a space left open large enough for himself and Ron. Neville, Dean, and Seamus sat beyond them at a respectable distance. The slight buffer between him and the rest of Gryffindor House wasn't likely to help much, but Harry was touched that his friends had made the effort to keep him sheltered from the stares and questions.

"Harry!" Hermione called in surprise as she lifted her head from the book before her and made eye contact. Harry smiled weakly as he sat down across from his bushy-haired friend, settling in between George and Ron, who had taken the end seat.

"You're back! I can't believe you just ran away from school like that! Even if it was to go with Thor!" Hermione exclaimed; relieved smile melting into an indignant frown. "You could have been hurt, or even expelled!"

"What happened, Harry? Where did you go?" Fred asked as he leaned across the table toward him. Harry nibbled on a piece of toast as he explained.

"Thor was right, Loki really is my mum. They-they're really my family." Harry marveled at the concept, still unused to the idea. "My mum didn't know she was Loki until the night she er, died and woke up back on Asgard as Loki."

Harry paused then, only to be bombarded by further questions. He tried to ignore the way the rest of the table had gone silent as he continued; everyone within earshot was clearly hanging on to his every word with intense curiosity. The story would likely be circulated throughout the entire school by the time the first class of the day finished. He rushed through a simple explanation, wanting it over with as soon as possible so that his student life could go back to normal.

"So Loki was sent down to Earth just like Thor was, but without his memories?" Ginny confirmed after Harry finished. Hermione opened her mouth to speak next, presumably to ask a hundred more questions, but Ron beat her to it.

"But Loki is evil!" He exclaimed. "He's the one who caused those aliens to attack New York, and the Avengers fought him off, right?" Harry shook his head, but Hermione was the one to answer Ron's question.

"Honestly, the Wizarding World is so closed off from the rest of the world sometimes. It's been all over the Muggle news that Loki was innocent! Someone else was controlling him, similarly to how Dark wizards use the Imperius curse." She said huffily. The other Weasley children exchanged dubious looks with each other before tacitly accepting the news. Ron's brows furrowed.

"That's convenient, 'innit? Are you sure he wasn't just faking it?" He asked Harry. Harry frowned in return, recalling the way the Malfoys and other Death Eaters had avoided prison by claiming they'd been Imperiused. But then he thought back to his long talk with Loki, of the real pain and regret in his face and voice. He shook his head.

"No way. The Avengers even confirmed it. He and Thor are staying in the tower with them."

"You met the Avengers?" Fred and George asked in unison.

"Oh forget about them," Hermione dismissed flippantly. "What about Loki? Does that make you half Asgardian, Harry? Why did Loki lose his memories? What are you going to do now?" She rattled off questions, practically vibrating in her seat with the force of her enthusiasm. She tilted the book she had been reading up so that Harry could see the title: Myth and Religion of the North.

"How much of our knowledge about Norse mythology is accurate? Oh, there's just so much to learn! Do you think tha-" Hermione was interrupted this time by Ginny.

"Maybe we should keep the interrogation to a minimum, at least until Harry has a chance to adjust to all this first." She reasoned with a pointed look at the witch beside her. Hermione flushed with embarrassment, but nodded. Harry smiled gratefully at the youngest Weasley. She blushed and looked back down at her plate.

"I'll tell you guys more later." Harry promised with a glance at the rest of Gryffindor table. His friends took the hint and fell silent. He didn't want to reveal any more while so many other students were listening. Harry managed only a few more bites of his breakfast before he was interrupted once more, this time by Professor McGonagall. She handed him a few sheets of paper.

"Your class schedule, Mr. Potter, and your DNA test results. You left them behind in the headmaster's office." She told him promptly. "You will be expected to make up any work you've missed before the end of the week, and due to your rather...unique circumstances, you will not be required to serve detention for your willful absence."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief at that, and took the papers as McGonagall walked back over to her seat at the Head table. Fred snatched the test results out of his hand as Harry focused on his class schedule. He had missed Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and Double Divination yesterday and today he had History of Magic, Transfiguration, and Potions. Eurgh.

"What's a DNA test?" asked George as he peered at the papers his twin was holding across from him curiously. Hermione seized them from Fred, who gasped at her in mock-offense with one hand placed dramatically over his heart. He quickly fell silent as she spoke.

"It's a muggle way to see if people are related, or to try and match a sample of blood or tissue to a specific person. It's mostly used to investigate crimes, but it has other uses too." Hermione answered succinctly as she poured over the information.

"Hey-" Harry reached to take the pages back but Hermione trapped them under her finger as she pointed at a specific line of text. Status: Human (magical), it read. Harry craned his neck to read it from a less upside-down angle.

"Look, this says that you're completely human, Harry." Hermione actually seemed disappointed by this, though for Harry it was comforting to have confirmed. He hadn't noticed that part before; being too focused on the paternity aspect of the test.

"Loki's doesn't say anything, but Lily Potter's status is listed as the same as yours." She noted with surprise. "Loki is described as a shapeshifter many times in Norse Mythology so I was picturing something similar to the abilities of a metamorphmagus, but to actually change species all the way down to a cellular level! That's- well, godly I suppose. I wonder how..." Hermione's enthusiastic rant trailed off as she became lost in thought. Harry took advantage of the reprieve to gently pull his papers out from under her hands and place them safely into his bag.

Breakfast ended shortly after that, and Harry trudged off to History of Magic; Ron and Hermione following dutifully behind.

It was still night in New York City, though several floors of Avengers Tower were still awash with light. Loki sat at the bar in the kitchen of his and Thor's shared floor. The God of Thunder had already retired to his bed, but Loki could not sleep yet. He stared at the many lights reflecting from the streets below without fully seeing them, too caught up in his own thoughts. He mulled over Thor and Natasha's recounting of how their conversation with Albus Dumbledore had gone.

The foolish man had fallen for the Black Widow's pathetic damsel routine just as Loki himself had, allowing her to determine his most likely course of action. If he thought that he could outmaneuver both her and the God of Lies… well. Dumbledore was in for quite the surprise. He had also attempted to read their minds, as predicted. Even when Loki had been just Lily she had been discomfitted to learn of the ability, for it could be so easily abused. It was this seed of doubt that had eventually led her to perform the ritual that had saved Harry's life, rather than trust the Headmaster's protections. They had been right to be so wary of the man.

Loki who was also Lily shook their head slightly, as though the gesture could chase away the odd double-think he'd lapsed into. Separating his mortal life from his current one was difficult at times. It was a side effect he'd experienced before after shifting for long periods, only now it was greatly worsened due to the memory loss. Lily Potter, while retaining enough of Loki's magic to turn her original mundane infant body into that of a witch, had not retained Loki's personality. It would take time for the two fundamentally different versions of himself to merge completely. In the meantime…

This form chafed him. Loki may have felt differently about gender by nature due to his shapeshifting, but Lily had been a woman at peace with her body and sex. The part of them that still felt like Lily was uncomfortable in male skin. As long as Loki continued to shift between forms when the feeling got overwhelming, it would fade eventually. Still, it was an irritating waste of his pitifully empty reserves of magic.

Destroying the mind controlling influence of the Other had drawn out great amounts of Loki's power as fuel for the task, and destroying the memory block had drained the rest. The shock of it all kept his strength from returning as quickly as it should. Loki grit his teeth. He hated feeling so weak and helpless. If his magic was at adequate levels he would have destroyed Albus Dumbledore already. But it wasn't and so Loki had been forced to make a difficult choice: send his son back into the man's clutches, or risk an attack on himself he may not have been able to protect Harry from. Not to mention the Avengers. While they seemed to have tentatively accepted Loki into their lives, he wasn't fool enough to think that they would forgive him bringing more danger into their home. He intended to milk their alliance and Tony Stark's hospitality for as long as possible, for Harry's sake. The sooner his strength was replenished the sooner he could steal Harry away, keep him safe, where he would never feel pain or sadness again.

Loki's heart, frozen though it may be, ached at the thought that he had failed yet another child. He would have quite a bit of work ahead of him to gain the boy's trust and rebuild their familial bond, as well as protect him from Voldemort, Dumbledore, and Odin.

Foolish old men, the lot of them.

Loki's arm blurred into motion. He hardly registered what had happened even as the untouched glass of water in his hand shattered impressively against the window. He watched the droplets slide down its unmarred surface dispassionately. The unerringly polite voice of JARVIS pulled him from his melancholy as his name was spoken neutrally, though he could hear the hidden warning within. Loki idly wondered if Tony Stark truly understood the life he had created. He tilted his head toward the ceiling thoughtfully.

"I'm listening."

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat as yet another student carefully levitated an airplane-shaped note onto his desk where Professor Binns wouldn't catch it. This time it was from a Ravenclaw student Harry didn't know the name of; a tall boy with dark blond hair. Harry pointedly crumpled the note into a ball without unfolding it, irritated past the point of caring if it made him seem rude. The Ravenclaw frowned at him, offended, but didn't try again.

Harry sighed as he swept the crumpled note into his bag with the rest to throw out later. After reading the first one from Lavender Brown which asked: Is it true? You can tell me, he had ignored them all. There was no way that he would actively participate in gossiping about himself. It didn't matter what he said anyway, the other students would believe whatever they wanted to about Harry and his new family situation regardless. He'd learned that the hard way in his second year.

Over half of the school didn't read the muggle news and therefore didn't know that Loki was innocent of the crimes he'd been accused of, making the gossip all the more "scandalous". Harry could only hope that the true story broke to wizarding news soon, preferably before Professor Dumbledore lifted the wards for the owls and everyone wrote home to their parents and to the Daily Prophet about what had happened.

He slouched low in his chair, scowling. He tried to ignore everyone around him and focus only on Professor Binns and his droning voice. He was a bit too successful however, and the combination of little sleep and the old ghost's lilting tone sent him drifting off to sleep at his desk.

Roughly forty minutes later Harry was prodded back into wakefulness by Hermione, who lectured him and Ron both about dozing off in the first History of Magic class of the year during the entire walk back to Gryffindor tower for their free period. At the mouth of the hallway leading to the entrance of the Common Room, Harry stopped suddenly. He was sure to be surrounded by everyone inside when he stepped in. He wanted to discuss the previous day with his friends privately before facing the curious masses.

"Let's go to the library instead." Harry told them. "To talk." He added hastily when Ron gave him an incredulous look. He and Hermione agreed, anxious to hear the details of his time with the Avengers, and they turned as one back the way they came from.

The library was mercifully empty except for a handful of older students milling about one of the far shelves at the back of the room. Hermione led Harry and Ron over to a secluded spot near one of the windows with a small table tucked underneath.

"So what was it you didn't want to have overheard at breakfast?" She asked as she pulled out a chair.

"Just some… private details I didn't want to answer a thousand questions about. I wouldn't be able to explain much anyway, Loki sent me back here before I really got to ask him for more information." Harry was annoyed by that. His mental list of things to ask Loki about was already growing too long to remember without writing down. He would definitely take him up on the offer to write letters right away.

"What private details?" Ron pressed eagerly.

"I have siblings." Harry blurted. "I was never supposed to live with my aunt and uncle but Dumbledore specifically put me there and I don't know why. Tony Stark invited me to live in his tower and I have no idea what to think about any of this!" He stood abruptly, raking his hands through his hair as he began pacing.

"It-it's just so crazy and it's too much and everyone keeps looking at me like I'm some kind of freak!" Harry ranted, venting his frustrations to his friends, who were looking rather shell-shocked.

"Siblings-!" "Living with the Avengers-!?" Hermione and Ron exclaimed at the same time. Ron continued first.

"Mate, this is a good thing. You've got a chance to get away from those awful muggles and live with an actual team of superheroes. How is that not exciting?!" He asked. "It's not like the school hasn't gone all weird on you before. They'll get over it eventually. You should enjoy this."

Harry offered Ron a halfhearted smile in thanks, but he couldn't bring himself to relax and take his advice. He couldn't just let himself 'enjoy this'. There was still so much to figure out. He didn't know any of them, not really. There was no guarantee that he'd be safer better off with his new family, regardless of how well their first meeting had gone.

"Siblings!" Hermione exclaimed again. "Harry that's wonderful. Are they Asgardian? Did you meet them?"

"Er, I think some might be Asgardian but some are actually magical creatures? I don't know how that works. And no, I didn't meet any, although I did get to see Asgard for a few minutes." Harry answered, crossing his arms and leaning back against the bookshelf behind him. Hermione's face lit up while Ron's remained neutral, if a bit confused.

"Do you mean Loki's mythological children like Fenrir and the World Serpent are real?" Hermione asked while she dug into her bag for her mythology book, flipping through its pages hurriedly. Harry nodded.

"Incredible, so what did-" Hermione was interrupted from her fact checking by Ron.

"What was Asgard like?" He questioned, a bit starry eyed at the idea of the gods' realm.

"Er… very shiny." Harry answered lamely. Nothing he could say would really do the place justice. He decided to describe Heimdall and his experience with travelling via the Bifrost instead. Hermione grinned widely as another piece of Norse mythology was confirmed to be fairly accurate.

"Oh. That reminds me, I was going to bring him some books about magical wards." Harry said, remembering that he was, in fact, in the library.

"Those are… four rows over that way." Hermione directed him. "Should be somewhere in the middle shelves. I'd like to grab some more mythology books myself." She pulled Ron up by the arm and began dragging him off in the opposite direction from where she had pointed Harry.

Harry pushed off from the shelf he was leaning against and headed over. The aisle of shelves was thankfully unoccupied. He squinted at the titles for a long moment before pulling down the ones that sounded the most useful. He paged through The Beginner's Guide to Warding to see what was inside and found himself making a mental note to come back and learn more later. It seemed that interesting things could be done with warding, and it couldn't hurt to know more about them. He turned the corner, so focused on his books that he almost collided with another person that was entering the aisle.

Harry noticed the green and silver tie first, followed by platinum blonde hair, before finally taking in the girl's face which sported a rather unimpressed expression. She looked him up and down, ice blue eyes lingering just a second longer on his lightning scar before snapping back down his own eyes.

"Potter." She acknowledged in a far more neutral tone than he usually heard from Slytherin House.

"Er…" Harry replied eloquently. He didn't remember the girl's name though he knew she was in his year, and occasionally hung out with Pansy Parkinson.

"Daphne Greengrass." She introduced herself primly. Harry waited for her to move so they could go their separate ways, but she simply stayed where she was, staring at him with a calculating expression.

"Nice to meet you?" He told her, though it came out of his mouth like a question.

"It is." She agreed mildly as she finally stepped to the side. Harry walked past her warily, half expecting her to fling an insult or a jinx at him. Just as he was about to leave the aisle she spoke again, quietly.

"Draco Malfoy has already found a way to contact his father about your...new heritage. I don't know what he's planning to do, but I suggest you get ahead of the story if you can. I know you abhor being in the spotlight, but you should use it to your advantage in this case or else Malfoy's version of the story will become the one everyone believes." Harry stood up straighter, eyes widening in surprise.

"...Why are you telling me this? I thought all of you Slytherins hated me."

"Not all of us are 'evil slimy snakes' or whatever you Gryffindors like to call us." Daphne replied haughtily over her shoulder. "And a true Slytherin knows the value in having a powerful ally, regardless of their status."

"You want to be my ally?" Harry asked, confused. Daphne turned to face him again, their positions in the aisle now reversed. She peered at him shrewdly.

"Something bad is coming." She said cryptically. "I want to be on the winning side." And with that, she walked away, curls bouncing lightly against her back as she disappeared around the corner.

Harry was left standing at the mouth of the aisle, utterly bewildered. Unsettled, too. Daphne had reminded him uncomfortably of the Black Widow and the way she had thoroughly manipulated the Headmaster with nothing but a soft voice and a smile. The advice about Malfoy appeared genuine however, despite her ominous last words. Harry couldn't see how any of it could have been a sneaky way to mess with him. He decided to take her words at face value.

He would keep this odd encounter to himself for now, Harry thought as he made his way back to his friends. He had some important letters to write.

Steve's head jerked up suddenly as his sensitive hearing picked up the quiet footsteps of someone entering the gym behind him. He steadied the swaying punching bag in front of him as he turned to face the last person he'd ever expect to be joining him; Loki. The god looked exhausted and skittish, scowling at Steve as though daring him to comment on Loki's presence there.

After a tense moment of silence Steve turned back to resume his workout, content to go on as though he were alone. He'd let Loki come to him first if he was here to talk. It seemed that they were both here for the same thing however; to hit things until they weren't so angry anymore. Loki had rolled up his sleeves and taken up position in front of another bag across the room. The quiet gym filled with the sounds of fists meeting their targets and harsh breathing as they worked out their separate frustrations with their hands.

Steve wouldn't go so far as to say he understood how the god was feeling right now but… he could relate to losing time. For Steve it had been the whole world, and for Loki it had been a family, but what was the difference really, when it came to losing them? It was obvious that Loki had been putting on a brave face for the kid, and that he was desperate to protect and get to know his son. Steve was dragged from his contemplation abruptly as Loki's bag slammed against the wall with a mighty crash, sending all of the exercise equipment in its path flying. Steve was no stranger to accidentally destroying equipment, though the fact that the bag burst into flames immediately after gave him pause.

"Don't bother, Captain." Loki said flatly as Steve reached for the fire extinguisher near the door. He waved a hand and the flames dispelled, leaving behind only burnt leather and a few tendrils of smoke.

"That didn't help." The god said flatly to the ceiling.

"Apologies." JARVIS's artificial voice filtered through the speakers above their heads. "This method is quite beneficial to both Captain Rogers and Thor for obtaining a sense of calm, making it a suitable option to relieve stress for one such as yourself. I shall recalculate a new suggestion."

"Don't bother." Loki repeated. "I have a better idea. If you wouldn't mind, Captain?" He gestured to the mats to his right, the ones used for hand-to-hand combat training. Steve blinked at him in surprise before mulling over the idea and finally nodding his acceptance.

"Call me Steve." He answered, unwrapping his hands while Loki tied his hair up into a messy tail, obviously uncaring of his appearance. Like this, he looked nothing like the god the Avengers had fought against, Steve thought. He seemed like just a normal man, and a frail one at that without the added height and flair his dramatic horns and armour gave him. Steve was careful not to underestimate him. He knew from sparring with Thor that Asgardians had greater strength than most humans.

It meant that Steve was prepared for the force of the first blow he blocked easily. Sparring with Thor did not fully prepare him for sparring with Loki, however, who was far quicker than his brother, both in footwork and in strategy. He fought more like Natasha; all lightning fast reflexes and intricate moves designed to use an opponent's own weight against them. He was rougher than either of them around the edges, more wild.

They were fairly evenly matched, though with no magic, no shield, and both of them holding back Steve knew it was not anything like how a real fight between them would go. Loki looked as though he could collapse at any moment. His strikes remained powerful but his aim gradually grew sloppy. His features twisted in rage that was clearly directed at someone else. Steve eventually found himself being used as a stand-in punching bag, staying in a defensive position, blocking every blow he could as Loki's attacks came faster and faster before suddenly halting.

Loki dropped his arms to hang limply at his sides, panting. Steve breathed a tiny sigh of relief, pulling the hem of his shirt up to wipe the sweat from his brow. The super serum would heal his bruises before tomorrow morning, but they still hurt for the moment. Loki let his hair down as he walked away.

"Thank you." He muttered as he closed the door quietly behind him. Steve said nothing in return as he watched him go. He turned back to all of the ruined equipment and sighed, louder this time.

Steve didn't mind training with his Asgardian comrades, but did it always have to involve half the gym being destroyed? He began cleaning up, guiltily wondering how much it would all cost to replace. Tony may have seemingly limitless amounts of wealth, but Steve grew up during the Great Depression, and it was hard to shake the instinctive worry about money.

He hoped that at least the one sided spar had helped Loki to work off some of his anger. None of them, Steve included, had expected Loki to be so cooperative and easy to be around when it came to living among them. Thor had argued hard against his brother being locked up in some SHIELD base, eventually leading to the compromise of sharing his floor of the tower where he could be kept under constant surveillance.

It had been awkward at first; everyone wary of the reformed villain. It had been Clint, surprisingly, who had extended the metaphorical first olive branch and relaxed his guard around Loki. The archer confided with the rest of them later that they had reached an understanding based on their mutual suffering under alien mind control. After that, Loki could be found skulking around the communal floors instead of staying holed up in his room, and he even joined their team meals occasionally, trading dry sarcastic remarks with the rest of them. Without anyone fully realizing it, Loki had carved out a space for himself within their lives.

There was obviously a deep pain within Loki, but Steve was confident that his team would eventually heal it, the same way his fellow Avengers had helped to heal his own. Helping Harry Potter transition into their lives would go a long way toward helping the god.

Steve grinned to himself as he returned to his own room to sleep.

Transfiguration class went by quickly and easily with Professor McGonagall watching her students like a hawk. She ensured that any incidents of gossip or note-passing were swiftly dealt with, for which Harry was extremely grateful. McGonagall seemed especially disappointed in some of her Gryffindors' behaviour, and in the middle of the lesson she suddenly switched topics, giving an intense yet vague speech about House loyalty. Most gossips in the class appeared suitably cowed, though Harry doubted how long that would last amongst the bolder students.

He found his attention to his spellcasting waning, thoughts inevitably turning toward what to put in his letter to Loki and wondering what he should do about Daphne Greengrass' odd warning. What would Draco and Lucius Malfoy do with the news? Take it to the Daily Prophet, probably. Would Harry be able to stop whatever they planned by writing a letter of his own to the paper? He could theoretically get past the anti-owl wards through the hidden tunnel to Hogsmeade behind the statue of the one-eyed witch. He doubted that the Headmaster would help him in this, he was obviously uncomfortable with the idea of Loki, and had been almost hostile toward Thor and Natasha during their meeting. After the revelation that Dumbledore placed Harry with the Dursley's against his parents' express wishes, he was loathe to trust the man.

The class was over before he knew it, and it was time for lunch. Harry's friends took up the same clustered position at the end of the table as they had at breakfast. Professor McGonagall's House loyalty speech meant that Harry was for the most part left alone by the students in his year, though that didn't stop the older and younger years, or anyone from other Houses. Colin Creevey in particular looked as though he could spontaneously combust with excitement, stood behind Harry bouncing on the balls of his feet as he pestered him with questions about Thor and the other Avengers. His near worship of the celebrity heroes clearly eclipsed his obsession with the Boy-Who-Lived, making the two of them together the most exciting thing ever, and could Harry maybe get him an autograph?

That opened the floodgates as it were, for other fans of the Avengers team to crowd Harry and beg for more information. Since they weren't direct questions about himself and Loki, he reluctantly began to answer in the hopes that he'd be left alone eventually.

Yes, he went with Thor to Avengers tower. Yes, he met the whole team. No, he didn't see the Hulk transformed or the Iron Man suit. They were all very nice. No, he was not going to bring anyone autographs or other merchandise. Please stop asking about Black Widow's looks. And Thor's biceps.

Eventually the Weasley twins stood up on a bench and began a long, loud, speech about their intended future joke shop and products they had "in development, not for school pranking use of course, Professors!". Successfully drowned out by their noise, Harry's annoying hangers-ons finally dispersed back to their tables, allowing him some peace. He sighed, he needed every bit of calm he could find to fully prepare for Potions class with the Slytherins.

Snape had been glowering at him ever since Harry had sat down. He was sure to be even more unbearable than usual in class. The Potions professor hated him, and held a special disdain for the Boy-Who-Lived celebrity, despite the fact that Harry himself hated it also. Snape would definitely take the entire incident as Harry trying to earn himself even more fame, and do everything he could to punish him for it, no matter how petty.

And then there were the Slytherins. Despite Daphne's earlier claim that they weren't all bad, Harry knew that most would be extra unpleasant to him now. It wasn't anything he wasn't already used to and prepared for, but it was still tiresome. And if he was honest with himself, it did hurt to know that one of the most exciting and happy occasions of his life was material for others to mock and insult him with.

Harry gave a start as he realized; he really was happy. He had been ever since Loki had first transformed and Harry fully believed that what was happening was real. Underneath all of the anxiety and doubt he truly was glad to have his mother back, to have this new chance at having a real family. He'd been focusing so hard on all of the negatives this morning he'd forgotten about all of the good that had come of it.

It was this burst of confidence and self assurance that carried him all the way through lunch and the walk to the dungeons, where his tentative good mood was abruptly shattered by Draco Malfoy.

"So how's it feel to know that your dad was secretly a poof, half-breed?" The pale boy called out from where he was leaning against the stone wall across from the classroom. Harry bristled, but forced himself not to respond. He grit his teeth as a few other Slytherins followed Malfoy's lead and began jeering. He ignored it as best as he could while they all waited for Snape to arrive and unlock the door for them.

Harry's eyes landed on Daphne, who was standing a little further down the hall with another Slytherin girl. She whispered into the other girl's ear before making eye contact with him. She held his gaze for a moment, expressionless, before looking away. He followed her line of sight back to Snape who was approaching the group of students.

"Shut up Malfoy!" Ron snapped in response to something Harry missed while he was distracted. He and Hermione both grabbed their friend to hush him, but they were too late.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for shouting in the halls." Snape intoned as he smoothly passed them all and opened the door to the classroom. Harry exhaled sharply as he filed in behind everyone else.

To Harry's shock, Snape didn't mention anything about Harry's absence or related events. In fact, after he took attendance, he didn't speak directly to Harry at all, not even to deduct points. He still glared harshly at him whenever their eyes met, but his uncharacteristic silence left Harry feeling very off balance. The rest of the Gryffindor students didn't quite know what to make of the temporary truce either, trading confused looks with both Harry and each other. The Slytherins appeared just as surprised by the sudden turn of events though they hid it a bit better.

Snape still took points from the rest of Gryffindor House while rewarding Slytherin, and so the class eventually settled back into normal routine. Harry worked slowly and carefully as he considered Snape's odd behaviour. Why wasn't he making biting comments and punishing Harry for no reason? Was he… afraid of Thor and Loki? That Harry would run to them for protection from the man's unfair treatment? That couldn't be right...

Time inched by achingly slow. The atmosphere grew steadily more uncomfortable as Snape continued snapping at students, even at one of his own House when a mistake kicked up a huge cloud of yellow dust that spoiled everyone else's potions. Gregory Goyle was sent to the Hospital Wing after inhaling his creation horribly confused by the detention he'd received for it. The tension in the air was considerably thicker after that, both Houses united in their puzzlement over their professor.

Harry wasn't alone in practically running to deposit his vial of potion on Snape's desk and flee the dungeons as fast as possible. He was the only one however, who found himself on the receiving end of the man's piercing stare. Harry had no idea what Snape saw there, but he recoiled almost violently back into his desk chair. Paranoia sufficiently ratcheted up to even greater heights, Harry couldn't get out of the classroom fast enough. That had been very unsettling.

"What the bloody hell was all that about?" Ron verbalized what everyone around him was thinking.

"I'm just glad it wasn't me who caused the dust cloud." Neville said from beside him as he appeared to visibly deflate with relief. Harry frowned as he turned over Snape's actions in his head. He still failed to understand what had happened.

What in the world was wrong with Professor Snape?

Finally, chapter six! Hopefully the extra length makes up for the lateness. I promise the plot will start moving more next time but for now, let me know what you think!

Chapter Fun Fact: Harry's 'new friend' in this chapter was supposed to be someone else entirely, but Daphne surprised me by popping up and bringing in her own subplot. The other top potential romantic interests will similarly get more screentime than in canon, so everybody can get more of their favorites in on the action even if they don't win.

Next Time: Avengers reflect, Harry gains some additional allies, and everybody has a plan.